On the Fourth of July, America celebrates the Founding Fathers declaring independence from Great Britain. But let us also celebrate the videogame freedom fighters who risked their extra lives to stand up to evil corporations, governments, mad scientists, and pixelized armies. We nerds salute you.

15. The Chosen One (Fallout 2)

The Chosen One began life as a tribal nobody trying to end a drought. But his belief in every man's right to freedom, regardless of radiation levels and/or mutation, eventually lead him to freeing the West Coast (or what remained of it) from the Enclave. All he had to do was murder the President of the Enclave (don't worry  he was evil. Millard Fillmore-evil) and blow up an oil rig (an evil oil rig. Deepwater Horizon-evil). And with that, the people of the post-apocalyptic land no longer had to live in fear of the evil government  just super mutants, radiation, starvation, dehydration, disease, raiders, slavers, radscorpions, poison, gangsters, thieves, ghouls, rats, and deathclaws. That's called "progress."